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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: racket · mark · shower · band · tube · hand · cell · kid

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. tube — a container
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. hand — help
  5. band — a ring
  6. mark — a trace
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. kid — child
  9. cell — a phone
  10. mark — a grade
  11. shower — to wash
  12. band — a music group
  13. cell — in biology
  14. tube — the underground
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kid — to tease
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. shower — rain
  24. racket — a loud noise

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com